Creative Bites: Eoghan Nolan

EOGHAN NOLAN

What is the stupidest thing somebody has done to get you to see them or their work?

“Someone sent me a lame, borrowed-shit line like ‘Have a break and review my portfolio’ along with a bar of Kit-Kat.
It was Summer and they sent it by post in a standard envelope. So what arrived on my desk was a greasy packet of melted chocolate and crumbs along with some stained, stuck-together pages. Unfortunately, we weren’t hiring fools that year.”

What are your biggest pet peeves about the work in most junior portfolios?

“The woulda-coulda-shouldas. Being shown things along with an apology for why they are the way they are, rather than the right way. In many cases, the right way wouldn’t have taken too much extra trouble. For once I’d like to see someone having finished work they way they wanted it rather than only present it the way forces various made it end up.”

“That and bad illustration, crappy type, or obvious typos. The time to turn professional is when putting together your first portfolio. Barter skills you have for those you don’t.”

List three adjectives that describe the ultimate junior creative.

“Hungry. Meticulous. Resilient.”

A top-notch portfolio is crucial, but how much does personality count towards making a hire?

“Personality is crucial and a lot harder to improve than a portfolio. As Da Vinci said, ‘you cannot get from the artist what is not in the man.’

“And as our Lord Bernbach added ‘You have to be nice and talented to work here but if you’re talented and not nice you won’t last any longer than if you’re nice and not talented.’)”